Jon Hunter-Barrett has been appointed the club’s new academy director after more than 14 years at Wolves.
The new role will see him lead the whole academy programme, with a particular focus on a new training ground facility plan and the upcoming new EPPP audit.
Hunter-Barrett has held eight different roles during his time with the club, most recently academy manager – football, and he’ll now also take up operational responsibilities, as well as academic and player care duties, following the departure of Laura Nicholls earlier this year.
His Wolves association began back in May 2011, when Hunter-Barrett worked as an academy coach and scout, identifying local talents and giving him an in-depth knowledge of the club’s entire academy system.
The role of foundation phase lead coach saw Hunter-Barrett turn to the development of the younger players within Wolves Academy, focusing on the planning and alignment of the club’s coaching through the age groups.
In 2017 Hunter-Barrett began leading on all academy coaching, being responsible for the development of players aged seven to 12 and ensuring young players were given the required care and guidance both on and off the pitch.
After five years in that position, he became academy manager – football, overseeing all football aspects of the club’s category one academy, before now stepping into the role of academy director.
Technical director Matt Jackson said: “The most important thing is the type of person that Jon is, having been around Wolves for so long – you just don't want to lose that type of person. He's got such good, established relationships, both internally and externally, so it’s really good for us that he's still going to be around for a long time.
“It's not actually a big step for him, because he's done all elements of the job. My responsibility is changing, so I’m going to hand day to day duties to Jon, but I know they're in really good hands and he's got good staff around him.
“His relationship with players and their families, those ones that are developing through the academy, are so important. He knows every single player from under-8s upwards, and there’s now a lack of disruption in the academy system, which is so good for the football club – that continuity as we try and establish a way of being productive from that academy is crucial.
“It's often the likes of Jon who are underrated in football clubs, because they work incredibly hard and incredibly long hours, and there's many names I could add to a Jon in this football club right now, working really diligently in the background, but they are the absolute fabric and the mainstays of football clubs.”
In his new role, Hunter-Barrett will now oversee the appointment of a head of coaching in the academy, as Wolves continue to reshape Compton Park off the pitch.
